Paul Scholes has been left out of Manchester United's travelling squad for their Champions League encounter with Real Madrid.

Scholes has been sidelined by a knee injury since the FA Cup win over Fulham on 26 January but did train at the club's Carrington training ground on Tuesday morning.

However, when United left for Spain for their last-16 first-leg tie, Scholes was not part of Sir Alex Ferguson's 22-man squad.

Although Scholes was unlikely to start anyway, his absence does rob United of some valuable experience for their meeting with the nine-times trophy winners.

The positive news was that Ashley Young made the journey after recovering from his knee injury. In addition, Jonny Evans and Phil Jones have overcome the niggles that forced them to be substituted during Sunday's win over Everton.

By opting to remain in Manchester for their final training session, as they have done all season, Ferguson was aiming to keep his plans for the game secret.

It has been predicted Jones will be handed a midfield holding role, after successfully shackling Gareth Bale and Marouane Fellaini in recent weeks. Ferguson has plenty of alternatives, though, which include Tom Cleverley and Anderson, even though Michael Carrick is among those virtually certain to start.

Real were hardly any more forthcoming, opting to do their stretching session on the furthest pitch away from the cameras and not doing any meaningful work until after the media had left.

The former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is expected to be fit and did train on Tuesday morning despite doubts being expressed in the Spanish media about his participation.

Local reports also suggest up to 5,000 United fans will fly in for the game, a significant number of them without tickets.

Evans does not feel United have any reason to feel inferior against Real, who are 33 matches undefeated at home since they were beaten by Barcelona in 2012 and in four meetings with United at their home ground the worst they have done is draw twice.

However, Evans does not view that as an excuse to fret, with United now within touching distance of a record 20th league title and their own record of three Champions League finals in the last five seasons far exceeding Real's over the same period, which includes just two semi-final appearances.

"We can't be daunted," said the Northern Ireland defender. "We are Manchester United. Teams look up to us as well. I am sure the same pressures will be on them. They have good players who can hurt you but we play against Premier League opposition every week and that is one of the best leagues in the world.

"It is just as if we were playing against Manchester City or Liverpool. They are top players and we have to be spot on."